Steps for writing chapters

[Xeon]

Hi!

When you folks write your books, and assume that each book has one chapter, how do you folks go about doing it?

Is it like :

1) You write out all the ideas and plot in one shot. The grammar and spelling doesn't matter.
2) After you're done, you read and edit the chapter.
3) You read it and edit it one more time, this time adding more difficult-sounding words(to make the book more professional), flow and ideas.

Is this the standard approach? I would love to hear if there's any "system" in place for writing each chapter in a book. I feel that the whole result is gonna be in junk and crap if there's no organized writing style/system.

Thanks,
Xeon.

 

[Vinsecula]

I wrote a thirteen-chapter fanfiction on Kingdom Hearts recently. My system went as folllows:

-Decide what will happen.
-Write the chapter itself.
-Add/Delete/Edit events.
-Check spelling/grammar/punctuation.
-Decide the overall theme of the chapter, and name it.
-(optional) Stick in a little quote beneath the chapter title, helping to identify what the chapter will be about.

 

[Eugen]

Is it like :
1) You write out all the ideas and plot in one shot. The grammar and spelling doesn't matter.
2) After you're done, you read and edit the chapter.

Hi Xeon,
I normally begin with a skeleton, having a vague idea of what scenes/ action I would like in a few main chapters that carry the plot from start to finish. The skeleton is normally in point form and indicators. As for Vinsecula, this is where I vaguely decide what will happen. But nothing is set in stone.

As I begin tackling each actual chapter, I write it as though it were my best and final shot (fat chance). Grammar, style and language are as important to me in this first draft as in the finished book. More importantly, I write each chapter as though it were a story on it's own: beginning, middle and end, each chapter being the epitome of a scene in a theatrical play. When it becomes too long or a new scene/ action emerges inside of it, then I split it - thus giving birth to new chapters. This is the hardest bit, this first draft.

I may edit by scene as I go along in the first draft, refining chapter from chapter until I get to those blissful words: The End. I then read the story and revise it into a second draft that is more meticulous. Changes occur to plot, characterisation, dialogue etc until everything sticks together. Sub-plots may emerge.

I may at this point give it to a third party, to see it from their eyes. I never stop revising the story, ideas never cease, ways to make it better and better still - until it is out of my hands and costly to amend!

All said and done, writers' styles vary. Some have the rigidity of fixed structure so as not to meander from the storyline; others don't even name their characters in the first draft. Others - of which I'm included - let the characters tell the story, which implies the ending is unknown. This to me adds intrigue and keeps me pumping out stuff, as I sure as hell want to know how this will end.

3) You read it and edit it one more time, this time adding more difficult-sounding words(to make the book more professional), flow and ideas.

You don't need difficult-sounding words to make your writing stand out. Look at Cathy C's Moon's Web on the showcase.

 

[Xeon]

Thanks a lot, Eugene and Vinsecular! I'll definitely look into Cathy's masterpiece later on once I'm free.

By the way, what are your opinions on those chic-lit books/novels?
You know, those interesting-to-read books whose writing are done in a energetic, hip and funky kind of style.

See ye',
Xeon.

 

[Eugen]

By the way, what are your opinions on those chic-lit books/novels? You know, those interesting-to-read books whose writing are done in a energetic, hip and funky kind of style.

Can't comment; I'm old school!

 

[Crystal]

Many thanks, and ...

Hi Xeon,
I normally begin with a skeleton, having a vague idea of what scenes/ action I would like in a few main chapters that carry the plot from start to finish. The skeleton is normally in point form and indicators. As for Vinsecula, this is where I vaguely decide what will happen. But nothing is set in stone.

As I begin tackling each actual chapter, I write it as though it were my best and final shot (fat chance). Grammar, style and language are as important to me in this first draft as in the finished book. More importantly, I write each chapter as though it were a story on it's own: beginning, middle and end, each chapter being the epitome of a scene in a theatrical play. When it becomes too long or a new scene/ action emerges inside of it, then I split it - thus giving birth to new chapters. This is the hardest bit, this first draft.

I may edit by scene as I go along in the first draft, refining chapter from chapter until I get to those blissful words: The End. I then read the story and revise it into a second draft that is more meticulous. Changes occur to plot, characterisation, dialogue etc until everything sticks together. Sub-plots may emerge.

I may at this point give it to a third party, to see it from their eyes. I never stop revising the story, ideas never cease, ways to make it better and better still - until it is out of my hands and costly to amend!

All said and done, writers' styles vary. Some have the rigidity of fixed structure so as not to meander from the storyline; others don't even name their characters in the first draft. Others - of which I'm included - let the characters tell the story, which implies the ending is unknown. This to me adds intrigue and keeps me pumping out stuff, as I sure as hell want to know how this will end.

You don't need difficult-sounding words to make your writing stand out. Look at Cathy C's Moon's Web on the showcase.

ermm, Mr. Eugen Bacon,

How do you usually deal with those sparkling little ideas as you elaborate your main storyline? like there are many other scens or characters that keep jumping into your mind?

 

[Cathy C]

Hmm, Xeon. I'm one of those rare oddities that write in final form out of the box. I "see" a scene, equivalent to a clip from a movie in my head, and write until you can taste the coffee, feel the breeze on your face and the porch under your feet. No skeletons, no drafts. Just writing. It's heaven.

 

[lilypad]

New

Hi..I'm so new to this forum thing, but I thought I would give it a chance. I have a project that I'm working on and I will need some guidance...can I count on anyone out there????

 

[Eugen]

ermm, Mr. Eugen Bacon,

How do you usually deal with those sparkling little ideas as you elaborate your main storyline? like there are many other scens or characters that keep jumping into your mind?

Ermm... Watercrystal, I'm female. Da..dee..da.. de.. da. I stick sparkling little ideas (or not so sparkly) either into a new chapter (outside of the mains) or as a standalone section on its own, until I figure out where it fits in with the storyline. Mind you, with ingenious plotting, you can make it fit. Sometimes it doesn't, and stands out like a hernia. So I gently remove it from my story and save it for another. Without a skeleton or drafting, I meander.

 

[Crystal]

Ermm... Watercrystal, I'm female. Da..dee..da.. de.. da. I stick sparkling little ideas (or not so sparkly) either into a new chapter (outside of the mains) or as a standalone section on its own, until I figure out where it fits in with the storyline. Mind you, with ingenious plotting, you can make it fit. Sometimes it doesn't, and stands out like a hernia. So I gently remove it from my story and save it for another. Without a skeleton or drafting, I meander.

Dada..da.da...

am sorry. Eugen. I would not have made this mistake, if I had read your piece in writershowcase more carefully, I think. and thank you for the reply.

 

[Eugen]

Hi..I'm so new to this forum thing, but I thought I would give it a chance. I have a project that I'm working on and I will need some guidance...can I count on anyone out there????

Lilypad, if you really wanted a response, you would begin a new thread in writer's block or the showcase and name it I have this new project...

 

[Eugen]

Dada..da.da...

am sorry. Eugen. I would not have made this mistake, if I had read your piece in writershowcase more carefully, I think. and thank you for the reply.

Watercrystal, never you mind. Sometimes when it's a man's world - I get away with it! Should have left it as a private joke, and then sent you my book with my pix at the back! Too late, you lost out.

 

[lilypad]

Thank You..i Will Try This

 

[Prolixic]

Ermm... Watercrystal, I'm female.

Hey have you posted up anything on the female writers thread?

Sometimes there is an obvious chapter breakpoint. Sometimes there is a spot where I put one because I think it enhances the storyline. *shrug

 

[K-Dawn]

I don't follow any steps or anything like that. I just write until I find a good place to end a chapter, then I do. Then I do the same thing with the next chapter. And I don't name them until I'm done with the book (that is if I ever do name them).

 

[Eugen]

Thank You..i Will Try This

I think, lilypad, at the beginning of whichever forum, you select thread starter and then the New thread button. Do tell us about your project.

 

[Eugen]

:Hey have you posted up anything on the female writers thread?

What female writers thread? Even if I found one, I probably wouldn't post. I hate my work being categorised by gender target.

Sometimes there is an obvious chapter breakpoint. Sometimes there is a spot where I put one because I think it enhances the storyline.

The best breakpoint, methinks, is one that ends on a high. Something unresolved and one must read more, hence putting the book down is a harder feat. A chapter ending like:
He rocked gently on his knees, hands to his face. Tears squeezed through his fingers. Something cold and wet and salty touched his lips. When finally he spoke, "Why?" he choked.

or:

A gunshot cracked through half-lifted shutters into the morning room dappled with white sun, lifting the silence.

 

[Xeon]

Hi Eugene! I've a question. I notice that you, like many fine authors, are able to come up with imaginative sentences made up of abstract and interesting words.

He rocked gently on his knees, hands to his face. Tears squeezed through his fingers. Something cold and wet and salty touched his lips. When finally he spoke, "Why?" he choked.

or:

A gunshot cracked through half-lifted shutters into the morning room dappled with white sun, lifting the silence.

How did folks like you come up with such a combination of creative sentences? Is it by nature or what?

Thanks!
Xeon.

 

[Prolixic]

What female writers thread? Even if I found one, I probably wouldn't post. I hate my work being categorised by gender target.

Try this: Female Writers

 

[Cathy C]

How did folks like you come up with such a combination of creative sentences? Is it by nature or what?

Thanks!
Xeon.

Mostly it's because there are only so many words in the English language, and copy editors get snarky if you keep using the same one over and over! When you're writing 100,000 words, you had better get out the handy-dandy thesaurus!